Saint Didacus

University Ministry honors the patron saint of our city and our university by referring to the Sunday collection as the Saint Didacus Fund. Didacus is the Latin translation of the Spanish name Diego.

San Diego de Alcalá, as he was known, was born in Seville, Spain around the year 1400 but lived most of his adult life in the town of Alcalá de Henares -- hence the name given to the USD campus by our founders. His family was quite poor and unable to provide him with an education, leaving him without the ability to read. As a young man in Spain, Didacus joined the Secular Franciscan Order and lived for some time as a hermit.

After becoming a Franciscan brother, Didacus developed a reputation for intense devotion to both action and contemplation. His meditation brought him great insight into God's ways and his generosity was so extraordinary that he became known as the "friend of the poor." In fact, Didacus' generosity was so prodigious that even some of his brother Franciscans became uneasy with his unfailing charity.

USD honors the legacy of Saint Didacus by donating 100% of the money that our community contributes each week to support USD community members doing service locally and around the world. During the 2011-2012 academic year, the Founders Chapel Community contributed $23,240.21 to a variety of social service agencies and non-governmental organizations.

These include:

St. Vincent de Paul

Catholic Relief Services--Pakistan

Christ Child Society

Casa Cornelia

St. Charles Lwanga Secondary School

Catholic Relief Services

La Morita

Medical Brigades

Jesuit Volunteer Corps

USD Invisible Children

Haiti Scholarship

Mecca Youth Group

Nacidos Para Triunfar

El Salvador Women's Artisan Cooperative

Duncans, Jamaica

Liberty in North Korea

St. Madeline Sophie Center

Catholic Relief Services--Japan

The Duchesne House for Volunteers

Homeboy Industries

Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking

Mi Ultimo Deseo

Lwanga Health Center

Didacus is living proof that God "chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27).